Schoenherr Partner Alexander Popp in Austria and Attorney at Law Ivan Einwalter in Croatia talk about the CEE 2019 Deal of the Year in Croatia

Schoenherr Partners Ilko Stoyanov in Bulgaria and Slaven Moravcevic in Serbia Talk About The Deal of the Year in Bulgaria

It is with great pleasure that we announce the 2019 CEE Deal of the Year Award winners – the most important, complicated, significant, and valuable deals across Central and Eastern Europe.

The Hungarian National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (the "Authority" or "NAIH") recently imposed a fine of HUF 100m (approx. EUR 285,000) on one of the biggest electronic communication service providers Digi Távközlési Szolgáltató Kft. ("Digi"). This is the highest data protection fine imposed in Hungary since the entry into force of the GDPR and the highest ever fine levied in Hungary for a violation of data protection regulations.

While following the adoption of the Temporary Framework various EU countries have rather quickly implemented state support schemes that also cover large corporations, Romania has so far only focused on SMEs.

The Hungarian government introduced a state of emergency in March and took several extraordinary measures to mitigate the economic consequences of the coronavirus crisis. These measures heavily affected the Hungarian economy and legal system. Since the Hungarian government revoked the state of emergency, it is time to summarize the relevant legal background.

On 28 May 2020, the Hungarian Government adopted amendments to the laws on company liquidation and forced deletion procedures to cushion the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

The Government of Hungary has proposed an amendment to Act XLIX of 1991 on bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings (Insolvency Act) aiming to modernise the procedural rules of insolvency proceedings, for example by introducing communication via email and video conferences.

With growing expectations of a global recession generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, avoiding disruptions to the food supply chain and food production continues to be a priority. One of the key measures for ensuring food availability is to maintain and support agricultural activities and markets.

Schoenherr, acting as leader of a consortium of European law firms, has conducted what it describes as "a comprehensive study on the regulatory and administrative requirements for entry and trade on the gas wholesale market in the EU for the European Commission, Directorate General Energy."

On 25 May 2020, the Government of Hungary adopted a new decree on the screening of foreign investments in Hungary (the "Decree"). The new screening regime aims to protect public security, order and health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and introduced a new approval requirement for investments into certain Hungarian companies. The screening will be carried out by the Minister of National Economy (the "Minister"). The Decree entered into force on 26 May 2020 while leaving the earlier FDI screening mechanism unaffected (see our earlier FDI screening article). As a result, two parallel FDI screening mechanisms now apply in Hungary.

On 27^th May 2020 the Austrian government submitted a proposal for a new foreign investment screening act (Investitionskontrollgesetz) to the Parliament (the "Proposal").

On 30 May 2020, the third Anti-COVID-19 legislative package was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, introducing, among other measures, a screening instrument for foreign investments. This is a novelty in the Slovenian regulatory landscape.

You guessed right, this is not an article about COVID-19, but it is an article about VAT (not sure if this is actually a good thing).

In 2010, France’s Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament published the results of tests of breast implants produced by the French company PIP and banned their use, due to an increasing number of reports of incidents related to impaired implant integrity and subsequent health-related complications.

Everybody talks about the speed at which life moves in our globalized world. And the Austrian legal market isn’t evolving more slowly – so keep up the pace!

Market Spotlight - Hungary

On December 27, 2019, several amendments made to the Hungarian capital markets act by the Hungarian Parliament to adhere to the relevant rules of the European Union be-came effective, also making it easier for Hungarian companies to issue bonds under the Bond Funding for Growth Scheme (BGS) by introducing more lenient information and publication rules for issuances.